Internal-combustion engine



A. I. WINNIER AND W. E. ERICKSON.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 6.1919.

Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

45 luz/@7 25570 715.

UNITEDX sTATEs ln'rela'rl OFFICE.

' ALBERT-J. WINNIER, or Nurrck, AND WALTER E. ERICKSON, or BnooxLINn,

' f MAssAcHUsETTs.

INTERNAL-commencer ENGINE..

Specieation of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

Application led November 6, 1919. Serial No. 336,045.

.To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, 'ALBERT J. WrNNme and WALTER E. ERICKSON, citizens of the\` United States, residing, respectively, at Natick and Brookline, in the counties of Middlesex and Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in 'Internal- Combustion -En` gines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an internal oombustion engine and particularly to a valve mechanism for said engine. i

It is the ob'ect of the invention to provide a simple eiiiclent slide valve for an internal combustion engine so constructed and 1nstalled that it is capable of automatically adjusting itself to compensate for wear without requiring the use of sprlngs of any kind.

In valves of this type it has hithertobeen the practice, in anattempt toprevent leakage, to employ a plate whlch 1s forced.

against the valve by springs of various forms. The use of springs of any kind for this purpose hasbeen found impractlcable as the engine often becomes so hot as to remove the temper from .the springs, whereupon the plate will fail to function properly and leakage will occur around the valve the result being that it is impossible to hold the desired compression within the cylinder of the engine. Furthermore, where there. 1s always a pressure against the face of a slide valve, it requires more power to operate the valve, the valve and contacting parts will wear more quickly and it is more diiiicult to distribute the lubricating oil over the surface of the valve.

It is an object, therefore, of this invention to eliminate these defects and thereby produce a more eiicient engine and one capable of producingmorepower for the slze of the cylinders.

The invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts set forth 1n the following specification and particularly pointed out in the claims thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the cylinder block casting of an internal combus- `tion engine, the cover plate being removed broken away tomore clearly illustrate the valve mechanism. 1

Fig. 2 is a vertical line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail horizontal section taken on the line 3-3-of Fig. 1.

Llke numerals ,refer to like parts througl1 out the several views of the drawings.

In the drawings, 5 represents' a cylinder block casting for an internal combustion en glne of the four-cycle type, the cylinders and cylinder heads being cast integral. The cylinder block 5 is formed with a pair of cylinders 6, each of sai-d cylinders beingl Fee vided with the usual water jacket 7, inlet port 8, exhaust port 9, and having a piston 10 adapted to'- reciprocate therein. An inlet valve l1 1s adapted to open the inlet port 8 at the proper time to admit an explosive charge to a combustion chamber 12 upon the ulterior of the cylinder 6 above the piston 10 during the suction stroke ofthe piston, and to close the inlet port 8 at the end of `said suction stroke, the inlet port rernainlngv closed during the succeeding compression, firing and exhaust strokes. An enhaust valve 13 is adapted to open'the exhaust port9 to allow the exhaust gases to pass from the combustion chamber 12 dursection taken on the liti ing the exhaust stroke of the piston and to As the inlet and exhaust valves are identical in construction and operation, a descri tion of one will serve also for the other.

T e inlet and exhaust valves are located upon opposite sides of the cylinders 6 and each of said valves is adapted to recipro-v cate within a valve chamber 15 provided between a pair of o positely disposed valve seats 16 and 17. T e valve seat 16 is provided upon the outer face of the cylinder block 5 and a valve seat 17 is provided upon the inner face of a housing 18. The hous- -ing 18 is separated from the cylinder block 6 by a separator plate 19 which is provided with openings-formed therein, vertical sides 20 of said openings constituting side guides for said valves, and said separator plate cooperates with the valve seats 16 and 17 to form the valve chamber 15 for each of the valves 11 and 13, the separator plate 19 entirely closing the'sides and ends of said valve chamber. j

Screws 21 simultaneously fasten the'separator plate 19 and housing 18 to the s1de of the cylinder block 5. The thickness of the separator plate 19 is preferably slightly greater than that of the valves 11 and 13,

1n order that said valves may slide loosely in their respective valve chambers. The valves are each constructed without openings therein, the presence of which tends to cause a valve to warp, if overheated.

An upper edge 22 of each valve is so located that when said valves are in their lowermost positions, the inlet port 8 and exhaust port 9 will each be wide open. A lug 23 is formed integral with each valve and projects at right angles outwardly therefrom through an opening 24 prov1ded in the housing 18. Ar valve stem 25 is adapted to slide longit-udinall in a bearing 26 formed integral with t e housing 18. The valve stem 25 is connected to the lu 23 passing through a slot 27 formed thereln in.

such a manner that the valves may automatically adjust themselves laterallyupon the valve stems between the head ofa' stud 28v which has screw-threaded engagement with and constitutes apart of said valve stem and a nut 29. Thls adjustment will allow the valves to compensate for wear and furthermore alsoallow the valves to reciprocate loosely within the valve chamber 15. The heavy lu 23 will also tend to carry away and di use the heat from the. valves.`

jacket 31, the water entering -said waterA jacket through openings 32 from the water ja'c-ket 7 and returning througlh openings 33 to said water jacket 7. T e two .water jackets 7 and 31 provided upon opposite sides of the valves act to cool said valves. The housing adjacent to the inlet valve 11 has formed integral therewith an inlet manifold 34, while the housing adjacent to the exhaust valve 13 has an exhaust manifold` 35 also. formed inte al therewith. Cover plates 36 are provide fastenedy by the screws 21 to the housing 18 and by screws 37 to the cylinder -bloc operate with the walls of the housing 18 to 5. These plates conceal`-: the actuating parts of the valves and coform a chamber 38 within said housing into which the lug 23 projects. Lubricating oil is forced under pressure through a pipe 39 into a cavit 40 formed in the housing 18 and thence through apertures 41 against the slide valves 11 and 13, see Fig. 3, by which it is distributed by the movement of alves over the surfaces of the valve cham- The general operation of our im roved device 1s as follows; Referring to ig. 2, the inlet port 8 is wide open; the exhaust port 9 is closed with the exhaust valve 13 upon its upward stroke, while the piston 10 is movin downwardly upon the suction stroke. s the piston 1() reaches the bottom of its stroke and starts upwardly the inlet port 8 will be suddenly closed and as the piston moves upwardly upon the compression stroke theI pressure of the ex lesive charge within the combustion cham r 12 will tightly force the valves 11 and 13 against the Hat surface of the valve seat 17 and prevent any leakage around said valves. The greater the compression within the combustion chamber' the more tightly the valves will be forced against their respective seats 17. As the ex lesive charge is fired by the spark plug 14 orcing the piston 10 downwardly upon its firing stroke both of the valves 11 and 13 will remain closed.

'As the piston arrives at the bottom of the firing stroke the exhaust valve will move downwardly opening the exhaust port 9.and as the piston 10 rises upon its exhaust stroke it will force the burned gases outwardly through the exhaust port 9. The inlet valve 11 remains closed during the exhaust stroke of the piston but is suddenly moved downwardly to open the inlet port 8 at Hthe beginning of the next Isuction stroke of the piston. With the exception of during the compression stroke and firing stroke of the piston there is no pressure against the sides of.

the valves 11 andp13 and consequently said valves may be actuated very easily and with very little wear as the valves are loosely fitted in their respective valve chambers. At such times the lubricating oill which is forced under pressure into the valve chamber 15 is easily distributed by the movement of the valves overthe surface of said valves and said valve chamber. As the valves are forced against the surface of the valve seat 17 by the compression within the combustion chamber and later loosened when the pressure is withdrawn, the valves are at liberty to move laterally upon their respective valve stems and at such times may en- Agagethe surface of the valve seat 16. Furthermore, as the surface of the valves and l thevalve -`seats wear, the said valves may also move laterally upon the valve stems to vautomatically com ensate for. said wear.

The"`vvater jackets and 31 upon the oppothe site sides of each of the valves act to cool the valves during the operation of the engine.

If it is desired to adjust the timing of the valves l1 and 13, it is only necessary to loosen the nut 43 from engagement with the lower end of the valve stem 25 and turn said valve stem in the proper direction to raise or lower the valve, whereby the desired result may be obtained.

Having thus described our invention Whatwe claim and desire by Letters Patent to secure is:

l. An internal combustion engine e1nbodying a pair of oppositely disposed valve seats with a valve chamber therebetween, a valve slidable-loosely in said valve chamber and adapted to contact with either one of said valve seats, a lug projecting from the' outer .face of said valve formed integral therewith and provided with a slot therein, and means to actuate said valve, said means projecting through the slot formed in said lug, and being located entirely outside of the exhaust passage, whereby said valve may move laterally upon said actuating means to automatically compensate for Wear.

2. An internal combustion engine embodying a pair of oppositely disposed valve seats with a valve chamber therebetween, a valve slidable loosely in said valve chamber and adapted to contact with either one of said valve seats, a water jacketed housing adjacent to the outer face of said valve provided with an opening extending therethrough, a lug projectin from the outer face of said valve throng the opening in said housing, said lug being formed integral with said valve and being provided with a slot therein, and means to actuate said valve, said means projecting through the slot formed in said lug and being located entirely outside of the exhaust passage, wheresate for wear.

3. An linternal combustion engine embodying a pair of oppositely disposed valve seats with a valve chamber therebetween, a valve slidable loosely in said valve chamber and adapted to contact with either one of said valve seats, a lug projecting from the outer face of said valve provided with a slot therein, and means located entirely outside of the exhaust passage to actuate said valve, said means including a valve stem projecting through the slot formed in said lug and rotatable therein whereby said valve may be positioned vertically within said valve chamber.

4. An internal combustion engine emf bodying a pair of oppositely disposed valve seats with a valve chamber therebetween, a valve slidable loosely in said valve chamber and adapted to contact with either one of said valve seats, a housing chamber, a lug projecting from the outer face of said valve into said housin chamber and pro vided with a slot therein, means located entirely outsideof the exhaust passage to actuate said valve, said means including a valve stem projecting through the slot formed in said lug and rotatable therein 'whereby said valve may be positioned vertically within saidy valve chamber, and means to prevent the rotation of said valve stem within said lug. 4

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALBERT J. WINN IER. WALTER E. ERICKSON. 

